Objective

The project aims to support the advancement of the bi-regional STI policy dialogue between the EU MS/AC and the Eastern Partnership countries, with an explicit focus on the Societal Challenges that have been identified to be of mutual interest for the two regions, namely Climate Change, Energy and Health. In particular the project will identify actions and stakeholders and will implement innovative pilot activities to strengthen the coordination and impact of the individual actions.In terms of policy dialogue, the project will provide analytical evidence and monitoring to feed the dialogue and to support joint agenda setting. Policy mix reviews will be implemented along with capacity building activities with emphasis on the promotion of Innovation. More specifically, links with the EU technology platforms will be established allowing mutual learning and exchange of best practices for enhanced public-private partnerships between the two regions. In addition, support to FP contacts will be provided to strengthen their role and to adapt their functioning to the challenges of H2020.The proposed project will build on the experience of the previous projects (IncoNet EECA and IncoNet CA/SC) targeting the region and will develop synergies with the forthcoming project targeting the Central Asian countries.

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Synergies for cooperative innovation

Researchers have supported advancement of the bi-regional science, technology and innovation (STI) policy dialogue between the EU and Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. The main focus was on societal challenges, namely climate change, energy and health.

An EU-funded project, INCONET EAP (STI International Cooperation Network for Eastern Partnership Countries), consisted of 19 partners covering a broad spectrum of competences. They used a three-fold approach focused on promotion of the EU-EaP STI policy dialogue, enhancement of the participation of EaP researchers in Horizon 2020, and promotion of innovation in EaP countries.
Researchers implemented a wide range of activities to strengthen EaP country participation in Horizon 2020. These included: two grant schemes for twinning between EU and EaP research institutes and for individual researchers to attend brokerage events in the EU; a series of info days in the six EaP countries; training and support activities for EaP National Contact Points; and promotion of the participation of EaP countries in co-funding schemes.
Bi-regional EU-EaP cooperation in the field of innovation was fostered by supporting cooperation with EU innovation platforms and with the Enterprise Europe Network. Organised trainings on innovation management were also conducted, and the researchers explored extension of the European Innovation Scoreboard to EaP countries.
A mapping exercise was implemented to identify STI programmes and projects that addressed EaP countries from 2010. The exercise investigated funding from international, bilateral and national programmes.
Besides providing analytical evidence, researchers promoted cooperation in the EU and EaP. Synergies were also fostered between stakeholders in the field of innovation through dedicated workshops. The emphasis was on sharing good practices and transfer of know-how through establishing links.
Information management and entrepreneurship was the focus of a training seminar attended by 39 participants from 23 ministries, agencies, academies and universities. Some of the main topics were key innovation topics and definitions, intellectual property rights and financing of innovation. Dissemination and communication activities also included a web portal and project website, providing up-to-date information. Additionally, INCONET EAP held several outreach activities including conferences, workshops, trainings and webinars.

Executive Summary:The IncoNet EaP project - “STI International Cooperation Network for Eastern Partnership Countries” - supported the advancement of the bi-regional Science, Technology & Innovation (STI) policy dialogue between the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries, with an explicit focus on the Societal Challenges that have been identified to be of mutual interest for the two regions, namely, Climate Change, Energy and Health. The project was implemented by a large consortium of 19 partners from both EU MS/AC and EaP countries covering a broad spectrum of competences.

In order to reach its objectives, the project followed a three-fold approach focusing on: the promotion of the EU-EaP STI policy dialogue; the enhancement of the participation of EaP researchers in H2020; the promotion of innovation in EaP countries.

A series of activities have been implemented to promote the policy dialogue, such as: the continuous support provided to the “EaP Panel on Research and Innovation” by feeding the Panel with analytical evidence and by undertaking the implementation of activities decided by the Panel; the organization of three Policy Stakeholders Conferences bringing together policy makers, representatives of the research community, as well as representatives of innovation-related structures to identify common EU-EaP STI priorities and to draw recommendations for the cooperation; the implementation of STI Policy Mix Peer Reviews in Armenia and Georgia in order to contribute to the improvement of the STI systems of these countries; the organisation of ad-hoc activities adjusted to the newly Associated to H2020 countries’ needs.

To strengthen the participation of the EaP countries in H2020, the project implemented a wide range of activities, including: two grant schemes for twinning between EU and EaP research institutes and for individual researchers to attend Brokerage Events in EU; a series of Info Days in the 6 EaP countries; training and support activities for EaP NCPs; promotion of the participation of EaP countries in co-funding schemes (ERANETs, JPIs, etc.).

To foster the bi-regional EU-EaP cooperation in the field of innovation, the project: Supported the cooperation with EU Innovation Platforms (ETPs, KICs, JTIs) and with the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN); Organized trainings on innovation management; explored the extension of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) to EaP countries.

In parallel, the project implemented a coherent set of dissemination and communication actions to ensure a wide visibility of the project and of its results.

All the aforementioned set of complementary activities had a high impact on the cooperation and links between EU and EaP countries, the transfer of know-how and mutual learning, the joint research and innovation activities. They supported the EaP countries in strengthening their STI systems and the researchers in increasing their networking and participation in H2020, which in the case of the four out of six EaP countries Associated to H2020 constitutes a critical challenge for the success of the Association process.

Ultimately the project by supporting the EU-EaP STI cooperation promoted the socio-economic development and prosperity of the Eastern Neighbours of the EU, serving the aims of the Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of the European Union.

Project Context and Objectives:The “STI International Cooperation Network for Eastern Partnership countries - IncoNet EaP” project is a coordination and support action dedicated to the bi-regional EU-EaP STI cooperation. The project profited from the outcomes of previous FP7 projects broadly addressing the same region (IncoNet EECA and IncoNet CA/SC), but with a more specific focus on three Societal Challenges (SCs) that have been identified to be of mutual interest for the two regions, namely Climate Change, Energy and Health.

The project was implemented by a large consortium of 19 entities from EU and from all the six EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) involving in its activities national STI policy making and funding agencies, research entities, NCPs, innovation actors, etc.

Project’s ContextThe cooperation with the six countries at the eastern borders of the EU took a new impetus at the Prague Summit (May 2009) with the adoption of a Joint Declaration on the Eastern Partnership. Since then, STI constitutes one of the priority areas for cooperation of the Eastern Partnership Initiative, supervised by the Multilateral Platform 4 “People to people contacts”. Moreover, due to the potential and importance of the cooperation in STI, in 2013 a dedicated ‘EaP Panel on Research and Innovation’ has been set up to steer the STI cooperation in order to strengthen the participation of the EaP countries in the European Research Area through exchange of best practices in STI policy making and implementation. The Panel met for the first time in November 2013 and already from that time the IncoNet EaP project fed the Panel with analytical results to promote evidence-based policy making and supported the Panel in the implementation and follow-up of its decisions.

Starting in 2014 with Moldova and continuing with Ukraine (2015) and recently (2016) with Armenia and Georgia, the STI cooperation with the EaP countries entered in a new era since currently four out of the six countries are Associated to H2020, the EU’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. Transforming this major political initiative to a real success constitutes a key challenge for the Associated countries and for the EU, in which the IncoNet EaP project had a significant role to play by providing a coherent set of supportive measures.

Main Objectives

Against the afore-mentioned context, the IncoNet EaP project had the following main objectives:- Supporting the EU-EaP STI policy dialogue by mobilizing key stakeholders; - Providing analytical evidence to support the EU- EaP STI cooperation and a joint agenda setting;- Promoting cooperation among researchers in EU and EaP through information dissemination and training activities on H2020 for the development of joint applications; - Fostering the bi-regional EU-EaP cooperation in the field of innovation through capacity building actions and the creation of links among innovation actors.

In parallel, in order to underpin the aforementioned objectives, the IncoNet EaP project implemented a coherent set of dissemination actions to ensure the visibility of the project and its impact in the EU- EaP STI cooperation.

More specifically, the main objectives of IncoNet EaP can be summarized as follows:

(a) Supporting EU-EaP STI policy dialogue

The IncoNet EaP project implemented several activities to promote the STI policy dialogue: it provided support to the “EaP Panel on Research and Innovation”; it organized a series of Policy Stakeholders Conferences (PSCs) and it conducted STI Policy Mix Peer Reviews in Georgia and Armenia. The support to the ‘EU – EaP Panel on Research and Innovation’ included the preparation of a draft “Joint Strategy for the EU-EaP STI cooperation’’ subsequently adopted by the Panel; the presentation to the Panel of analytical evidence such as a bibliometric co-publication analyses in order to promote evidence based policy making; the taking up of the Panel’s recommendations (e.g. organization of a Thematic Workshop on Climate Change); the support to the organization of Panel’s meetings; etc.The organization of three Policy Stakeholders Conferences (PSCs) focusing on Climate Change, Energy and Health, had as an objective to identify regional and international initiatives and funding instruments addressing EaP countries (programmes and main projects), common EU-EaP STI priorities and strengths, in order to shape recommendations for the EU-EaP cooperation. The PSCs brought together a large number of stakeholders from both EU and EaP countries, including representatives from STI national authorities, international and regional organisations, representatives of the research community, as well as innovation and business entities. The project also conducted upon request of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Georgia, two STI Policy Mix Peer Reviews (PMPRs), to contribute to the improvement of the STI systems of these countries, an activity that can certainly impact on the success of their Association to H2020. To underpin the aforementioned policy dialogue activities with scientific evidence, a set of analytical activities were implemented, as it is explained below.

(b) Providing analytical evidence

The project implemented a mapping exercise to identify STI programmes and projects addressing EaP countries from 2010 onwards with a focus on Energy, Climate Change and Health. The exercise investigated funding from international (FP7, ENPI, ISTC, STCU, ENVSEC, INOGATE, UNESCO, UNDP, WHO, NATO, JOP, and WB), bilateral and, in some cases, national programmes. This had as an objective to develop an online public database with programmes, projects but also institutes active in international STI cooperation in order to involve the identified stakeholders in the project’s activities. The, bibliometric analysis of EU-EaP co-publications on Energy, Climate Change and Health covered the period 2003-2013 based on SCOPUS and Web of Science data, and included results on authors and affiliated institutes. The aim was to identify the most dynamic scientific topics and the most active EU-EaP co-publishing teams. Lastly, an STI cooperation barometer was implemented aiming to assess the attitude of EU and EaP researchers towards the bi-regional STI cooperation.

(c) Promoting cooperation among researchers in EU and EaP

The project supported the participation of EaP researchers in H2020 through a series of activities including: i) a grant scheme for twinning between EU-EaP research institutes; ii) a grant scheme for the participation of individual EaP researchers in networking (brokerage) events in EU; iii) H2020 Info Days promoting cooperation opportunities on open or forthcoming H2020 calls for proposals, targeting the research community in all the 6 EaP countries, with emphasis on young researchers; iv) support activities for the NCP structures such as trainings for NCPs, as well as awareness campaigns addressing the national authorities for promoting and strengthening the role of NCPs; and v) a feasibility study for the participation of EaP countries in Cofund schemes (ERANET, JPIs, etc.) vi) a Summer and a Winter School for young researchers in the field of “Energy efficiency” in view of Horizon2020 applications.

(d) Fostering cooperation in the field of Innovation

The project had as an objective to foster synergies between stakeholders in the EU MS/AC and EaP countries in the field of innovation with emphasis on sharing good practices and transfer of know-how through the establishment of links with the European Technology Platforms (ETP), Joint Technological Initiatives in EU (JTI), Knowledge Innovation Communities (KICs) and the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). This was implemented through dedicated workshops, missions from and to EaP countries as well as through the participation of EU innovation stakeholders in the project’s activities. In addition, the project supported capacity building actions such as training (innovation seminars, capacity-building in R&I policies, European Innovation Scoreboard-EIS workshop) aiming to increase knowledge and understanding in the design and implementation of R&I policies and subsequently improving the framework conditions for the EU-EaP cooperation.

In addition to the afore-mentioned main objectives, the IncoNet EaP project implemented a series of activities adjusted to the newly Associated countries’ needs (dedicated conferences and training sessions) in order to pave the way for a successful outcome of the Association to H2020.

Lastly, the IncoNet EaP project implemented a coherent set of dissemination actions to ensure the visibility of the project and maximize its impact in the EU- EaP STI cooperation through: 1) the web portal www.incrEAST.eu and the project’s website www.inco-eap.net with useful tools (EaP country reports, news, announcements, online databases, newsletters); 2) a communication strategy of IncoNet EaP key deliverables (promotion of the project’s deliverables to a stakeholders’ database in two rounds), c) outreach activities including presentations about the project’s activities and the EaP countries STI potential in major international events and conferences such as the 6th European Bioremediation Conference (June 2015, Crete, Greece); the 10th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environmental Systems (Sep. 2015, Dubrovnik, Croatia); the Climate-KIC Innovation Festival 2015 (Oct. 2015, Birmingham, UK); the 42nd Congress of the International Society of Oncology and Biomarkers (Oct. 2015, Poland);

Project Results:The main S&T results of the IncoNet EaP Project’s activities can be described as follows:

1. Policy Dialogue

Since the beginning of the project, IncoNet EaP has supported the advancement of the EU-EaP STI policy dialogue addressing STI policymakers, the EC, and the research and innovation community in EU and EaP countries through a set of coherent activities with the following results:

(a) Support to the ‘EaP Panel on Research and Innovation’The Panel was launched in Brussels in November 2013 and the IncoNet EaP project has provided support to its work. Support included the preparation of the draft “Joint Strategy for the EU-EaP STI cooperation’’ that was discussed and adopted by the Panel; the provision of analytical evidence such as a bibliometric co-publication analysis to promote evidence based policy making; a contribution to the implementation of the Panel’s recommendations (e.g. organization of a workshop for defining research priorities of mutual EU-EaP interest in the field of Climate Change; logistical support for the organization of the Panel’s meetings and events such as the annual EaP Panel’s event on “Horizon 2020 Training for NCPs”, Kiev/March 2016.

(b) Policy Stakeholders Conferences (PSCs)The main goal of the Policy Stakeholders Conferences was to i) identify regional and international initiatives, common research objectives, operational instruments (programmes and projects), ii) shape future cooperative initiatives addressing each SC between the EU and the EaP countries and iii) formulate recommendations on the enhancement of STI cooperation in addressing the 3 SCs, namely, energy, climate change and health. In addition, the conferences provided the opportunity for bringing together a good number of projects from the region as best practice examples with the aim to create synergies for future cooperation activities in H2020. Three PSCs were organised: a) on Climate Change in Yerevan/Armenia in May 2014. The event gathered more than 100 policy makers and representatives of the academic and scientific communities from eleven EU MS/AC and all the EaP countries. Representatives of the EU Delegation in Armenia, as well as representatives of other international organizations e.g. UN/UNDP, RECC and of NGOs and civil society initiatives active in Climate action attended the conference. b) on Energy in Minsk/Belarus in October 2015. The conference gathered 128 policy makers and representatives of the academic and scientific communities. They represented 81 organisations from 15 European and EaP countries and c) on Health in Budapest/Hungary in April 2016. The conference gathered 87 policy makers and representatives of the academic and scientific communities. They represented 65 organisations from 14 European and EaP countries.

(c) Ad-hoc activities to support the Association Agreements to H2020Ad-hoc activities tailor-made to the EaP countries’ needs were organized along the duration of the project, following the Association Agreements to H2020 of Armenia and Georgia, such as the Association workshops in Armenia and Georgia (May 2016), and the Association Conferences and trainings in these two EaP countries (November 2016). Participants from the EaP region, from already H2020 Associated Countries and countries in the association process (Armenia and Georgia) had the opportunity to exchange experiences related to the association process and to discuss the necessary measures to be taken on national level. The target audience of these activities was Ministries and organisations (funding agencies) dealing with the H2020 association, H2020 Programme Committee Delegates and Experts, H2020 NCPs.

(d) Workshop on the State of Affairs & Future of EU- EaP STI Cooperation The project organised a Workshop on the State of Affairs & Future of EU- EaP STI Cooperation in Brussels in September 2015. Its objective was to give an overview of the EU-EaP STI Cooperation with emphasis on the 3 SCs addressing key stakeholders from EU and EaP countries (representatives of the EC, the EaP national research funding agencies/ministries and EEN & large EU Research Institutions) with the purpose to stimulate in-depth discussions related to achievements, obstacles and future actions for enhancing the EU-EaP STI cooperation.

(e) STI Policy Mix Peer Reviews in Armenia and GeorgiaSTI Policy Mix Peer Reviews were organized upon request of the national authorities of Armenia and Georgia. The implementation of STI Policy Mix Peer Reviews in these countries, coincided with the negotiations for their Association to H2020. During missions of two international expert panels, interviews with a broad spectrum of policy making and research institutions (Ministries, Parliament, Academies, Agencies, etc.) were conducted as well as visits to selected entities of the scientific, research and innovation community of the two countries (universities, research centres, chambers of commerce, etc.). The peer review panel experts involved international senior experts and policymakers from EU MS. The review addressed the following issues: a) the STI system of the country, b) funding of STI, c) universities and Research centres, d) innovation and business sector, e) human resources in STI and f) international cooperation and H2020 Association. The reviews provided a number of recommendations aiming to enhance the performance of the Armenian and Georgian STI systems through a more coherent and integrated use of the available human and infrastructural resources and capabilities. To that end, follow-up workshops were conducted in Armenia and Georgia in order to discuss in detail the recommendations of the PMPR between different stakeholders responsible for STI system development.

(f) Organisation of three Expert Group Meetings for Recommendations on EU- EaP STI Cooperation. These meetings focused on EU-EaP STI Cooperation in the 3 SCs, i.e. Energy, Climate Change and Health were held in Athens (Climate change; April 2016) and Bonn (Energy and Health; May 2016). They were based on an evaluation of the outcomes of the major activities of the project conducted in the third and last year of its duration. The evaluation provided the opportunity to analyse in depth the activities implemented with the purpose to examine the added value offered by the project for each SC. The expert groups discussed the main results of the evaluations and provided recommendations offering an insight for the STI cooperation. Recommendations were focused on potential topics of mutual interest and means of STI cooperation, promotion of innovation; and drivers of EU- EaP Cooperation.

(g) Establishment of a regional ‘STI Evaluation Network’ A regional “STI Evaluation Network” was initiated aiming to create a joint regional S&T peer review platform that helped EaP countries to improve their evaluation procedures for national research funding. This activity included two regional workshops. The first workshop took place in Chisinau in May 2014. During the workshop, there were discussions over the potential mechanisms for the establishment of a regional platform, the required preparatory work for a regional database of evaluators and a draft roadmap with next steps. Participants were experts from R&D funding agencies in the EaP countries. The second workshop took place in Kiev in October 2015 as a follow-up event of the first one, to discuss the launching of a joint regional STI Evaluation Platform, the progress achieved in creating national systems of evaluation in EaP countries and the expertise of research projects. The two workshops led to the signature of α Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by five out of six countries demonstrating the interest of the Eastern Partnership region to cooperate in joint activities (Tbilisi; June 2016). An EaP STI Evaluation Platform Briefing Meeting was organised in Brussels (Dec. 2016) with the aim to present the EaP STI Evaluation Network Roadmap and discuss its further implementation also together with the key players on the EU level

2. Analytical evidence

Analytical evidence provided by IncoNet EaP included a set of activities that enabled to feed the EU-EaP STI policy dialogue with evidence by providing monitoring and analysis of the current state of cooperation between EU and EaP, as well as of trends for future cooperation. Below follow the main results of the implemented activities:

(a) Identification of actions and stakeholdersThe IncoNet EaP project has identified and screened a large number of multilateral, bilateral and national programmes and projects addressing Eastern Partnership countries on the 3 SCs (Climate Change, Energy and Health) that have ended from 2010 onwards. The screening included the stakeholders behind i.e. programme and project owners and partners. A large number of projects and stakeholders were identified to form a database of 965 entries. Among them, 321 projects are resulting from international funding, 75 projects from bilateral EU – EaP funding; and 565 projects from national funding. Out of the 321 projects funded by international programmes (i.e. FP7, ENPI, ISTC, STCU, ENVSEC, INOGATE, UNESCO, UNDP, WHO, NATO, JOP and WB) almost 40% (138 projects) are addressing Climate Change, 31% (110 projects) Health and 29% (73 projects) Energy. These findings demonstrate the trend under international funding in Eastern Partnership: climate change is dominant, while health and energy have almost equal position. The identified pool of programmes, projects and stakeholders did not constitute only a static database publically accessible at http://www.increast.eu/en/2013.php but it also constituted a privileged target audience for the dissemination activities of the project.

(b) Co-publication analysisA bibliometric co-publication analysis between EU MS and EaP authors on the 3SCs has been conducted based on Elsevier‘s Scopus and Thomson-Reuters Web of Science (WoS). Co-publications are considered to be international scientific co-publications with the participation of at least two institutions/organisations established in at least two different countries of which one has to be an EaP country. The data retrieved in May 2014 covers the time period 2003-2013. The total output from EaP is 139,279 co-publications. A deeper analysis for each EaP Country shows that Ukraine has a continuously high involvement, while Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova are stable. On the contrary, Azerbaijan’s involvement is increasing slowly in comparison with the other EaP countries. In general, the co-publications with the EU/AC countries have a high growth. The most important co-publication partners for the EaP countries are Russia, USA, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Institutions with the highest output in the SCs are the academies of sciences.As regards the 3 Societal Challenges:- Co-publications related to Energy were 4,213 out of a total of 139,279. The most author-used key-words in these co-publications are: computer simulation, optimisation, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, coke, coke manufacture, oxidation, nuclear energy.- Co-publications related to Health were 19,218 out of a total of 139,279. Most used key words in these co-publications are: Chernobyl accident, disease severity, radiation exposure, protein expression.- Co-publications related to Climate Change were only 299 out of a total of 139,279. The most author used key-words in these co-publications are: water, energy, temperature precipitation, carbon, greenhouse, spatial variability.

(c) STI cooperation barometer between EU and EaPAn STI cooperation barometer between EU and EaP was developed to monitor the progress of the “attitude towards STI cooperation”. The barometer was addressed only to stakeholders and researchers with EU- EaP research and development cooperation experience in order to analyse any perceived developments. The results of the STI cooperation barometer between EU-EaP countries contributed to better understanding of the development of framework conditions, cooperation opportunities and potentials of bi-regional STI cooperation. It identified bottlenecks but also trends and further shaped actions and strategies to facilitate bi-regional Science, Technology and Innovation cooperation. The results of the barometer give an overview about the tendencies in STI cooperation with EU and other regions. During the last two years, EU was indicated as the most important region concerning science research and technology cooperation in the case of all the EaP countries. The most important EU countries, as the barometer has shown, are Germany, Romania (mainly for Moldova), France, Italy, and Poland. The USA was indicated also as an important international STI player (mainly for Georgia). EaP cooperation with single European countries (bilateral cooperation) and with more European countries in the EU Programmes or with the neighbouring EaP countries showed higher increase in the last two years than EaP cooperation with Russia, the USA, Japan, South Korea, China, India and Turkey. The most popular tools that facilitate the participation of EaP researchers in H2020 are scientific conferences and partner search support, and mobility schemes to visit ad hoc research organisations in other countries to discuss and prepare joint Horizon 2020 proposals.

3. Supporting the participation of EaP researchers in H2020

Supporting the participation of EaP researchers in H2020 was one of the main objectives of the project and it was achieved through a set of support and coordination activities with the following results:

(a) Grant schemes for twinning among EU-EaP research institutes Grant schemes for twinning among EU-EaP research institutes have been implemented, as a pilot action, in order to bring research institutes/teams together with the aim to support the preparation of joint projects addressing H2020 topics as well as to enhance the EU-EaP STI cooperation at large. 25 twinning projects have been funded in three different calls. 12 twinning projects have been funded in the field of Energy, 10 projects in the field of Health and 3 projects in the field of Climate Change. All six EaP countries have been represented in the calls (Ukraine with nine projects, Belarus and Georgia, each with seven projects, Armenia and Moldova, each with two projects and Azerbaijan with one project). With the support of the twinning grant scheme, a Belorussian-French-Spanish team has successfully submitted a RIA proposal under H2020 (more info at CORDIS: http://cordis.europa.eu /project/rcn/203299_en.html).

(b) Grant Scheme for the Participation of EaP researchers in Brokerage Events in EUThe objective of two calls of this Grant Scheme was the support of the participation of EaP researchers in selected Brokerage Events or large scientific events in order to broaden their scientific network with EU scientists and therefore increase their participation in H2020 consortia. As underspent budget remained to this activity, a third call for proposals was launched. In addition, due to the prolongation of the project a fourth call for proposals was implemented. The total number of the granted EaP researchers through this scheme is 105.

The project offered a one-day proposal writing and H2020-information training for the participants of selected brokerage events. More particularly, 11 experts have participated in two side-events (ASEAN-EU STI Days Paris 2015 and Ener2i BE on Energy), 6 experts have participated in two side-events (AquaMatch 2015 and Energy Days Graz 2016) and 11 experts have participated in the Energy Networking4Innovation side event.

Grants for the participation of EaP scientists in brokerage events in EU was a useful tool for networking with the aim to find potential EU partners for cooperation with a focus to submit joint proposals in H2020. The experience of this scheme demonstrated that it is highly important for the project to select the most relevant Brokerage Events as well as to ensure that the grantees are well-prepared for intensive networking along their duration.

(c) H2020 Info DaysThe H2020 Info Days promoted cooperation opportunities in H2020. They included a presentation with an overview of Horizon 2020 (funding opportunities and rules of participations) with focus on the Work Programmes and calls addressing the topics of Energy, Health and Climate Change. In several cases, the Info Days included additional sessions such as national FP7 success stories (Moldova), NCP training (Belarus) or presentations of the association process (Georgia). The Info Days attracted a total of 1500 participants representing a wide range of stakeholders from research organisations, public bodies, ministries, universities, funding agencies, and SMEs.

(d) Support to NCP structuresA set of activities dedicated to the support of EaP NCPs was foreseen. The objective of the project was to strengthen the capacity of NCP networks in EaP countries (i.e. organisation, administration, and funding) and promote the participation of EaP countries in H2020. A review of support activities to NCPs was conducted which highlighted the challenges for EaP NCPs in participating in NCP projects and the key instruments to support transnational cooperation between NCPs funded by the EC. In addition, awareness campaigns were organised addressing national authorities in each EaP country on the role and importance of the NCP system for an increased participation in H2020 but also in the broader European Research Area at large. Support to the NCP structures is one of the most important activities with long-term perspectives designed to advance the potential of NCPs in EaP countries. This could lead to access to updated information about H2020, trainings about the administrative and financial issues of H2020, information on new calls and funding opportunities in H2020, etc. The added value was high in terms of increasing the participation in H2020. Moreover, a twinning activity was organised on recently appointed and less experienced EaP NCPs focusing on Energy, Climate and Health and their experienced counterparts from EU MS with the aim to share best practices in different NCP activities and establish contacts with experienced EU MS NCPs

(e) Feasibility study for the participation of EaP countries in EU funding mechanisms (ERANETs) in the 3 SCs Participation of EaP countries in joint funding mechanisms was part of a pilot activity of the project implemented through a feasibility study. The main aim of this study was to identify ongoing and upcoming thematic COFUND ERANETs and Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs) of interest for EaP countries with the aim to include funding agencies from EaP countries in ERANET schemes leading to joint funding activities with EU MS/AC in specific themes.The study presented the ongoing ERA-NETs and JPIs as well as the ones that are forthcoming in the new H2020 Work Programme (2016-2017) and are open to the participation of third countries with a focus on schemes relevant to the three SCs. The feasibility study enabled to map a total of 89 schemes, amongst which 43 on-going ERANETs, 36 ERANET new calls, and 10 JPIs. Following this study, a consultation process with the coordinators of these schemes and representatives from the EaP funding agencies and ministries revealed common topics of interest. Main topics of mutual interest are: Climate change; Agriculture and Food Security; Bio-economy; Water; and Transport and electro-mobility. The project facilitated the communication with ERANETs, JPIs, as well as with the relevant Directorates of the DG R&I of the Commission in order to identify national authorities/consortia behind the new WP calls and facilitate the participation of EaP organisations in these consortia. The consultation process culminated with a Workshop in Baku organised in October 2016, in collaboration with the Black Sea Horizon (BSH) project. The aim of the workshop was to discuss the modalities of participation in thematic COFUND ERANETs and to address the research funding agencies and ministries of EaP countries. The added value of this activity was the awareness raising about the ERANETs in EaP as well as the advanced discussions for the participation of EaP countries in specific ERANET/JPI funding schemes.

(f) Reciprocity in open programmesIn order to promote reciprocity in the participation of researchers from EU MS/AC in EaP R&I programmes, the project collected information on the relevant national programmes in EaP countries open to international participation and disseminated this information through the network of EU NCPs and other channels (e.g. scientific societies). In total, 84 programs were identified. In addition, a parallel activity consisted of conducting a survey among EU beneficiaries who had successfully accessed EaP programmes, in order to obtain an insight of their participation. The outcome of the survey highlights an overall positive experience of EU scientists in their participation in EaP national R&I programs.

4. Promotion of an effective and sustainable innovation partnership between the EU - EaP countries

IncoNet EaP promoted innovation in EaP countries through the establishment and enhancement of links between technological and innovation platforms in EU MS/AC and the EaP countries in the 3 SCs by providing the following results:

(a) Promotion of Cooperation with EU Innovation Platforms The project promoted innovation through a number of events such as a) the participation of EaP delegates at the 2014 Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) Conference in Rome/Italy and through an information mission to the infrastructures of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies (ENEA) in December 2014; b) the organisation of an “EaP Session” at the Climate-KIC Innovation Festival 2015 in Birmingham/UK in October 2015. Moreover, representatives from the KIC InnoEnergy and the European Biofuels technology Platform participated at the IncoNet EaP PSC “Energy Research and Innovation in the EaP” in Minsk/Belarus (October 2015). One of the main challenges in promoting EU platforms was related to the identification of relevant events which would provide first-hand information on the EU Innovation Platforms as well as the openness of EU innovation platforms beyond EU.

(b) Workshop on the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) A Workshop on the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) for EaP stakeholders took place in Kiev (February 2015). The issues discussed were touching upon existing mutual collaboration and available instruments. Cooperation with EEN was also underpinned by other activities of the project, which included a training of NCPs on the topic of partner search (CORDIS, EEN and Idealist) as well as brokerage events for energy experts organized by the EEN. At present, Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine are full members of the network. Georgia and Belarus are associated members with operational business cooperation centres, taking full advantage of the available EEN services and tools to promote innovation and technology transfer.

(c) Exploring the opportunities and challenges for an extension of the EU’s European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) activities to EaP countries The workshop “From Innovation Performance Assessment to Innovation Policies” dedicated to the EU’s European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) was organized in Yerevan (May 2016). The aim was to identify the needs and gaps, and highlight recent developments in the inclusion of EaP countries in the EIS studies as well as to present the lessons learnt as well as difficulties, necessary efforts and benefits. The agenda included presentations on the objectives, methodology and country coverage criteria of the EIS, country specificities and lessons learnt from innovation indicator projects from EU, the state of affairs with innovation statistics in each EaP country, as well as the state-of-the-art and perspectives based on recent developments and EU country experiences. All the presenters, in particular from EaP countries, stressed the importance of harmonization of national innovation statistics in accordance with the EIS methodology and of the implementation of a pilot project with the involvement of all the EaP countries. Participants agreed to establish contacts and explore the possibilities within H2020 and other international programmes for preparation and submission of a joint proposal on EIS studies.

(d) Capacity building in R&I policiesThe project organised a dedicated high-level training seminar on research and innovation policy (Vienna, February 2015). During the seminar, the fundamental theory of STI policy-making and policy-delivery was analysed. Discussions were held on new approaches and instruments for modern STI policies and emphasis was put on policy learning, assessment and evaluation of public interventions. The participants of the seminar were experts in the field of STI policy-making, STI policy-delivery and research management from all EaP countries.

(e) Training in the field of InnovationThe project organised a training seminar focusing on innovation management and entrepreneurship in Minsk (May 2015). Main topics of discussion were a) key innovation topics and definitions, b) Intellectual Property Rights, c) financing of innovation, d) practical support of innovation and commercialisation processes and e) international comparative assessments and examples from EaP Countries. The event was attended by 39 participants, from 23 ministries, agencies, academies and universities involved in applied or collaborative research and/or focused on support measures at state or organisation level, and research coordination units, departments or intermediary organisations dealing with commercialisation of research results. The event has provided a unique opportunity for sharing experience and capacity building in research and innovation improving the framework conditions for the EU-EaP STI cooperation, but also for setting up direct contacts and networking.

5. Dissemination and Communication

The purpose of dissemination and communication activities of the project was to increase the visibility and maximize the exploitation of the project’s results addressing all the relevant stakeholders. These activities ensured that pertinent messages would be used when addressing the main target audiences of the project including a) the web portal www.incrEAST.eu and the project’s website www.inco-eap.net b) the outreach activities of the IncoNet EaP to the broader STI community or during IncoNet EaP major events; c) the promotion of the project and its key deliverables through leaflets, brochures, newsletters, PSC conclusions in electronic and/or hard copies.

(1) Web portal incrEAST and project’s website

- The web portal was the only online platform specifically dedicated to EU’s international STI cooperation with EaP and Central Asian countries and Russia that not only provided background information, but also offered up-to-date news, calls and events;- User feedback has proved that the web portal and its newsletter were perceived as a reliable and sought-after source for a dedicated target audience looking for very specific information. Thus, it contributed to strengthening EU-EaP STI cooperation;- The portal provided up-to-date information, which is hard to find elsewhere. The event calendar and the calls section were the most popular sub-pages of the web portal;- The project’s website (www.inco-eap.net) provided a compact and up-to date overview about the activities of the project. Public deliverables were published here, allowing all interested parties an insight into the achievements and progress of the project;

(2) Outreach activities

Outreach activities within the IncoNet EaP project included a large number of various types of events, among which 3 Policy Stakeholder Conferences (PSCs), 17 workshops, 11 trainings, 15 Info Days and 4 webinars, while project partners presented project-related information at other external events. Such events targeted a wide range of audiences, such as the scientific community (higher education, research), industry, civil society, policy makers, and media from EaP as well as EU countries, EC and representatives from other organizations. The project promoted selected deliverables of EU-EaP projects identified through the mapping exercise of the project (http://www.increast.eu/en/3020.php) in a special issue of the 'Project of the Month - November 2016' as well through the incrEAST Newsletter issue of December 6, 2016 (http://www.increast.eu/_media/incrEAST_Newsletter_33_for_web.pdf) which was distributed among more than 300 EU and EaP professionals. In addition, “EaP sessions” in the framework of 3 major European scientific conferences were organised (session on Climate Change was organized during the 6th European Bioremediation Conference, EBC-VI, Chania, Greece, July 2015, session on Energy was organized during the 10th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – SDEWES, October, 2015, Croatia and the session on Health took place during the 42nd Congress of the International Society of Oncology and Biomarkers 'Oncology in the Biomarker Era: Biology - Diagnostics - Therapy' , Poland, October 2015). The aim was to highlight the strengths and latest developments in EaP countries. It was also a great opportunity for networking with other participants and exchange good practices for future research activities.Lastly, a communication and dissemination strategy for the project results has been developed providing guidelines for the promotion of key deliverables of the project, which ultimately took place in two rounds addressing a large number of stakeholders from EU and EaP countries. The Strategy was updated on a regular basis, as new possible dissemination channels, key actors and promotion possibilities were identified. Project partners also disseminated important information about the project through their organisations’ websites.

Potential Impact:The IncoNet EaP project was a coordination and support action aiming to strengthen the STI cooperation between EU MS and EaP countries. In that respect, the project contributed to the goals of the Eastern Partnership Initiative (Joint Declaration on the Eastern Partnership adopted at the Prague Summit in 2009 and reconfirmed at the Riga Summit in 2015), which highlight the importance of promoting the cooperation with the six countries at the eastern borders of the Union in various fields including Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).

To achieve its goals the project acted as a ‘policy dialogue facilitator’ implementing a series of activities addressing policy makers and by providing specific support to the ‘EU-EaP Panel on Research and Innovation’. At the same time the project acted as a ‘research and innovation bridge’ between the research communities in EU and in the EaP countries promoting joint participations in the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation ‘H2020’.

More specifically, throughout its 40 month long duration and based on the expertise of the broad and complementary consortium (from both EU MS/AC and EaP countries) involved in its implementation, the project adopted a multi-level approach addressing simultaneously:- The policy making and policy delivery levels (Ministries, Agencies, etc.) in order to improve the framework conditions for the bi-regional EU-EaP cooperation; - The researchers as key actors and beneficiaries of the cooperation;- The cooperation in the field of innovation that constitutes an integral part of H2020 and a major challenge for the EaP countries.

Policy making level

The project managed to mobilize a broad number of policy makers from all the EaP countries and from several EU MS and international organizations. Through a series of conferences, workshops, trainings and other mutual learning activities, the involved policy makers had the opportunity to exchange good practices, to identify obstacles and bottlenecks in the cooperation and to identify fields of cooperation of mutual interest in the 3 SCs and beyond. Among the main activities and results when addressing the policy making level we can mention:

The support provided to the ‘EaP Panel on Research and Innovation’: this Panel was not in place when the project started, nevertheless the project managed to adapt its activities in a flexible way and to establish a fruitful two-way communication with the Panel. More specifically, the project acted as a contributor to the Panel by providing input in the form of scientific evidence (e.g. EU-EaP co-publication analysis, mapping exercise of STI programmes and projects addressing EaP countries, etc.), contributing in that way to evidence-based policy making. At the demand of the Panel the project also contributed to the drafting of a Roadmap for the EU-EaP cooperation, as well as to the necessary preparatory work/consultation towards its adoption. In its role as facilitator and support platform for the Panel, the project implemented a series of activities decided by the Panel such as workshops (e.g. Expert meeting for the identification of topics of mutual EU-EaP interest in the field of Climate Change, Athens/2014) or Annual Events (such as the “Horizon 2020 Training for NCPs” that took place in Kiev/2016).

The organization of three Policy Stakeholders Conferences (PSCs) on Energy, Climate Change and Health: The PSCs provided a forum for reviewing the state of affairs in the EU – EaP STI cooperation, the role and efficiency of international programmes and donors, as well as the opportunities and barriers for an enhanced EU-EaP cooperation in the 3 Societal Challenges. The PSCs involved a broad mix of policy makers from both the EU MS/AC and the EaP countries, as well as representatives from the scientific and innovation communities. The pertinence of these conferences was marked by the high-level participation of policymakers, often at ministerial level. They managed to bring together approximately 320 stakeholders of different profiles and various institutions (policymaking institutions, multilateral institutions and donors, research institutes, ERANETs, KICs, NGOs, SMEs, etc.). The conclusions of the PSCs (disseminated through several communication channels) provided a number of recommendations on potential topics for cooperation as well as on the needs for future joint EU-EaP actions.

The promotion of EU-EaP STI co-fund schemes: A feasibility study has been prepared for the participation of EaP countries in EU’s co-funding mechanisms (ERANETS, JPIs, etc.) that constitute structured forms of cooperation necessitating concrete financial commitments but also a significant degree of harmonization of the STI procedures. In addition, the project jointly organized with the “Black Sea Horizon” Project a workshop bringing together interested funding agencies from EU and EaP countries (Baku/2016) that attracted high-level policymakers from as well as representatives from the EC (DG R&I and DG NEAR) and coordinators of ERANETs and JPIs. The conclusions of the workshop (which are accessible at http://www.ceriss.eu/photos/Baku_Workshop_Conclusions_final.pdf) provided a number of recommendations with regard to the internationalization of Public-Public Partnerships (PPPs) in the EaP region, an overall assessment of the participation in PPP schemes, benefits of participation, challenges and obstacles, and specific advices to EaP countries. They were disseminated to interested parties through various communication channels and currently discussions are progressing for the participation of EaP countries in specific co-fund projects.

The implementation of Policy Mix Peer Reviews of the STI systems in Georgia and Armenia: they have been implemented by high-level review Panels (Peers) in 2015 following a request by the two countries. They provided coherent sets of recommendations for the improvement of the national STI systems, based on methodology and expertise developed in EU. Follow-up activities have been organized in the two countries, showing their commitment for reforms, some of which are already implemented or under preparation. Such developments can significantly impact on the success of the Association of Armenia and Georgia to H2020, which requires improvements and strengthening of the national STI capabilities.

Trainings on STI for policy makers (Vienna/2015): this policy dialogue and capacity building activity allowed the exchange of good practices and mutual learning among high-level representatives from all the EaP countries.

The feedback from all the aforementioned policy dialogue activities is positive and follow-up actions such as internal reforms are already under implementation, highlighting a considerable impact of the project in the improvement of the framework conditions for the EU-EaP cooperation, as well as in the socio-economic development of the EaP countries.

Addressing the researchers

The project acting as a “bridge” between researchers fostered the cooperation between the research community of the EaP countries and the European Research Area (ERA). This was achieved through the creation of new research synergies in the field of energy, climate change and health by implementing a coherent set of supportive activities, such as grants for twinning among research institutes, grants for the participation of EaP researchers in networking activities in EU, trainings for NCPs i.e. information multipliers and Info Days on H2020.

All these activities mobilized a large number of researchers as key actors of the EU – EaP STI cooperation and the ultimate beneficiaries of the improvement of the framework conditions for this cooperation. It was therefore important for the project to work closely with the research community throughout the duration of the project and in parallel to the policy dialogue activities. This effort was assisted by the mapping exercise of Programmes and projects involving EU and EaP research teams implemented at the beginning of the project that identified a number of researchers already involved in international cooperation activities, as a privileged target group for dissemination of information on the project’s activities.

Among the activities implemented by the project and directly addressing the researchers and the promotion of H2020 we can mention:

Providing Grants: two types of Grants have been provided through open calls and sound evaluation procedures: twinning grants among research institutes in EaP and EU in view of joint proposal preparation in H2020 and grants to individual researchers from EaP to attend Brokerage Events or other similar networking events in EU. In total 25 twinning grants for research institutes and 105 individual grants have been awarded aiming to reduce isolation, promote networking and joint research work in H2020 and beyond.

Organizing Info Days in all the EaP countries: The 15 Info Days covered the 3 Societal Challenges and made a specific focus on open H2020 calls for proposals in order to provide concrete assistance to the EaP researchers, based on the expertise of EU NCPs that attended these events. More than 1600 researchers participated in the Info Days, with particular emphasis on the participation of female and young researchers as a privileged target group with high potential for establishing joint projects with EU researchers.

Support to the local NCP networks: The project organized dedicated training workshops for the nominated NCPs and it also involved them in several other project’s activities (e.g. Policy Stakeholder Conferences, etc.) in order to increase their knowledge and capabilities about the content, the procedures and the way to network in H2020. In addition the project organized an awareness campaign addressed to local policy makers about the role and importance of efficient NCP networks as information multipliers, urging the national authorities to complete the nominations and to consolidate the networks.

All these activities have been assessed very positively by the beneficiaries and a positive impact can be expected in the increasing of joint projects involving EU and EaP researchers despite the very strong competition in H2020.

Cooperation in the field of Innovation

The science-business links, the improvement of innovation and the exploitation of research results constitute major challenges for the EaP countries, while at the same time innovation is taking an increasing importance in the EU’s STI Framework Programmes, a fact that can negatively influence the participation of EaP countries in them. On the other hand the EU possesses a considerable know-how in the field of innovation to share with its neighbours. In that respect, the project implemented a series of activities to increase the EU-EaP cooperation in the field of innovation that can be summarized as follows:

Initiating links with European Technology Platforms, KICs and JTIs: To achieve that goal a series of missions of EaP experts to Platform events have been organized, as well as presentations of specific ETPs and JTIs to major IncoNet EaP conferences and trainings. The aim here was to establish links among the relevant stakeholders in order to initiate a structured cooperation and ultimately to expand such type of structures in the EaP countries. Innovation management and entrepreneurship training workshops: They addressed policy makers (to improve the framework conditions) and the business and academic sectors. Experts from EU innovation related structures attended the events as trainers to transfer their knowledge and to potentially act as mentors to local structures and initiatives.

Links with European Enterprise Network and expansion of the European Innovation Scoreboard: Dedicated workshops have been organized addressing EEN and EIS in order to present their goals, functioning and potential impact. The aim was to stimulate the participation in these activities the EaP countries now yet active in that field.

Through the aforementioned activities the project contributed to the increase of knowledge in the design and implementation of innovation policies and practices in the EaP countries and subsequently to the improvement of the framework conditions of the EU-EaP STI cooperation.

Focusing on three Societal Challenges

Throughout its implementation the IncoNet EaP project focused on three Societal Challenges (SCs) following the requirement set by the European Commission that stipulated to concentrate on a maximum three such Challenges in order to avoid a too superficial approach. In that respect, the project focused on Climate Change, Energy and Health that have been identified as priority Challenges for the EaP countries in predecessor IncoNet type projects.

In that respect, a whole set of the project’s activities went deeper on the aforementioned three Societal Challenges, allowing a better understanding of the research landscape and trends in these fields in the EaP countries, as well as the international trends. The activities with a particular SC focus included:- The mapping exercise of programmes and projects involving EU-EaP participation provided an exhaustive list of such projects for each one of the three SCs;- The bibliometric co-publication analysis in addition to the broad picture it went deeper in each SC;- The Policy Stakeholder Conferences were dedicated to the targeted SCs;- A dedicated workshop was organized (at the request of the EU-EaP Panel on R&I) to define pertinent research topics of mutual EU-EaP interest in the field of Climate Change, with the aim to orient future EU’s FP or bilateral cooperation actions. - One Expert Group meeting has been organized per SC to provide recommendations on priority fields of action.

Nevertheless, the need for interdisciplinary approaches and especially the nexus climate change/energy as well as climate change/health has also been highlighted, especially during the PSCs.

Overall Recommendations

The aforementioned three different Expert Group meetings (one per SC) that convened at the end of the project, had the opportunity to review the results of the whole project and to provide, in addition to the SC-related priorities, horizontal recommendations for improving the EU – EaP STI cooperation (e.g. on means for the cooperation, on innovation issues, on the drivers for the cooperation, etc.). Their recommendations are highlighting the following:

- Means of cooperation considered important for networking and enabling future cooperation are brokerage events, conferences, exchanges visits, thematic workshops and info days. Large-scale events provide more opportunities in terms of complementarity, however small-scale events dedicated to a specific topic can better motivate the participants to be properly prepared and therefore can be more effective in establishing cooperative research consortia. - Τwinning and mentoring schemes are considered to be most efficient tools for the consolidation of cooperation while PhD exchange instruments should be stimulated since they increase co-working of the involved research teams. Links with leading European research institutes should be promoted together with wider networking.

- COST Actions are a very efficient tool for networking that can lead to long-term cooperation.- Bilateral cooperation (agreements, exchange of staff) could also be a driving force towards multilateral cooperation.- The participation in ERANET type actions are important revealing the real engagement of the target countries. The participation in JPIs and equivalent multilateral programmes is meaningful when there is enough national budget to contribute and a large enough community to participate.

- Raising the motivation of individual researchers has been understood to be vital in order to overcome the hurdle of grant writing. This might be achieved by specific training events.- A wider involvement of EaP scientists and young researchers in particular in H2020 is needed. Brain drain should be addressed through programme design and more permanent cooperation with EaP countries.

- Private companies of EaP region should be more actively engaged in research and innovation.- A good practice related to innovation is the innovation vouchers scheme.- A better use of the services provided by the European Enterprise Network should be pursued.- Setting up financial support mechanisms and venture capital schemes is deemed necessary for promoting innovation.- Although there is cooperation between technological parks/incubators at national level, this cooperation should be extended among EaP countries at regional level.

Dissemination Activities

From the beginning of the IncoNet EaP project, a Communication and Dissemination Strategy was developed in order to make the results of the project widely visible to a large variety of stakeholders and to enhance their exploitation and impact. The Strategy defined the target groups and specified communication channels such as the IncrEAST Portal and the IncoNet EaP website.

The Portal was visited more than 58 thousand times while the project website more than 14 thousand times. In addition to the portal and the website, electronic newsletters and other information materials about the project and its deliverables ensured a broad dissemination of information on the project’s activities and results. In total 12 newsletters were issued during the project implementation (September 2013 – August 2016).Selected important news were also published in national media in the partner countries, while many important documents and materials were translated into Russian, which allowed a wider target audience to get a better understanding.

Outreach activities constituted an important part of the project. Throughout the project’s duration, project partners gave presentations on various project-related topics at the 3 Policy Stakeholder Conferences, in more than 17 workshops, 11 trainings, 15 Info Days and 4 webinars.

Through the afore-mentioned dissemination activities, the project supported the EU-EaP policy dialogue, increased the level of STI cooperation between the two regions, promoted the development of joint research projects under H2020 and consolidated the research communities in EaP through capacity building actions. The IncoNet EaP project contributed to the development of multilateral, bilateral and national STI Project and Programme Databases addressing EaP countries which are accessible online, while deliverables of selected EU-EaP projects addressing the 3 Societal Challenges (SC), namely, Climate Change, Energy and Health, were promoted through dedicated articles in the project’s website.

The IncoNet EaP project identified and addressed with its communication and dissemination activities the following target groups:- Policy-making: relevant EC Directorates, national ministries and research and innovationcouncils in the EaP countries and EU MS/AC;- Policy-delivery: funding bodies, intermediary organisations and programme managing authorities in EaP countries and EU MS/AC, as well as at the European level (incl. EU programmes, initiatives and platforms such as Tempus and Erasmus Mundus Programme, EIT, ETPs, JTI, KIC etc.), relevant European (e.g. EIB, EBRD/ETC Initiative and Multi-Donor Cooperation) and multinational financing institutions (e.g. OSCE, World Bank, ISTC, ADB) and the UN level (e.g. UNDP, UNESCO, UNECE and UNIDO);- Research organisations: Researchers and research managers from the academic sector both in the EU (incl. JRC) and EaP countries with a focus on the three selected Societal Challenges;- Research-oriented companies: Researchers and research managers from the industrial sector from the EaP countries and intermediary organisations such as EEN;- Project coordinators: Coordinators of relevant EU projects targeting EaP countries in the three SCs (nationally, bilaterally or multilaterally funded);- NCPs: NCP systems in the EaP countries but also in EU MS/AC;- General Public: media and the public at large;

In conclusion

All the aforementioned set of complementary activities had a high impact on the cooperation and links between EU and EaP countries, the transfer of know-how and mutual learning, the joint research and innovation activities. They supported the EaP countries in strengthening their STI systems and the researchers in increasing their networking and participation in H2020, which in the case of the four out of six EaP countries Associated to H2020 constitutes a critical challenge for the success of the Association process.

Ultimately the project by supporting the EU-EaP STI cooperation promoted the socio-economic development and prosperity of the Eastern Neighbours of the EU, serving the aims of the Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) of the European Union.